On this date in 1967 a very traumatic thing happened to our family. There was no way of knowing at the time how it would affect my family over the 47 years since. My parents and my brothers wife received terse telegrams that my brother Jim had been gravely wounded in Viet Nam two days after his 22nd birthday. The prognosis was grim as he had suffered serious head wounds as well as wounds to many other parts of his body. The fear that he would not survive was tempered by the idea that he may not be functional if he did survive because of the extent of the wounds to his brain. After several weeks in a coma, we received word on Christmas Eve that he had regained conciousness and was actually to arrive at Fitzsimmons General Army Hospital in Denver CO on Christmas morning. Over the next several months and then into years he and his wife and young daughter endured many surgeries, recuperation and learning how to live with traumatic brain injury. Too everyones amazement his intellect appeared to be actually heightened from the trauma and his personality if anything actually became much more positive. He finished his education and became a psychologist working with the disabled especially the hard of hearing. He was very sucessful at this as he lost his own hearing as a result of his injury. For many years it was unknown to us how he made it from the battlefield to a Field Hospital where he underwent lifesaving emergency surgery. It was many years later when the story became clear that he and two other wounded were carried to safety by Congressional Medal of Honor receipient Sammy L. Davis. Many of you know Sam from the movies if you saw Forrest Gump. Sams medal presentation from President Lyndon Johnson is the very one used with Tom Hanks head superimposed on Sams body through the magic of video editing. Here is a short YouTube video reenactment of Sams heroics that night and why he picked my brother up and carried him to safety that night even though he believed him to be already dead. It is a good watchand very emotional for me as he is the reason my brother just celebrated his 69th birthday two days ago. youtube/watch?v=aOWBw7muH9M Although not the only reason but one of the major reasons my own son joined the Army and serves today is because of the admiration and respect he has for his Uncle Jim and his Uncle Sammy. He has distinguished himself by his own soldiering but will be the first to tell you his inspiration came from these two men, his grandfathers and hopefully a little from his Mom and Dad. On this day I just want to say to my brother Jim, he has always been my hero. To MY Brother Sam I want to say thank you for your service to our Country then and still today and most of all for bringing my brother Jim home to his family. Lastly I want to tell my son once again how proud he has made his Mom and Dad as a soldier and as a husband and father. Love, Bob / Dad
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 08:54:22 +0000
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